Kisiel, Enriques shine in loss

Saturday, February 9

Irvine, Calif.

8 P.M.

Grand Canyon

7-7, 0-1MPSF

Concordia Irvine

5-8, 1-0MPSF

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
GCU	16	25	14	19	1
CUI	25	23	25	25	3

Photo by: Gillian Rea

2/9/2019 10:29:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

Lopes 2 sophomores have career nights, GCU falls in 4

By: Alex Nash

IRVINE, Calif. – The Grand Canyon men's volleyball team fell at Concordia-Irvine on Saturday by scores of 25-16, 23-25, 25-14 and 25-19.

GCU (7-7) drops to 0-2 to start Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play while Concordia-Irvine (5-8) improves to 1-0 and earns its fifth straight home win.

The Eagles had the edge in every statistical category, including hitting .350 while holding GCU to .250.

Sophomore opposite David Kisiel was a bright spot for GCU, hitting .286 on his way to a career-high 22 kills, a single-game high for a GCU player this year. Freshman outside hitter Christian Janke got back to his double-digit ways, landing 12 kills on 27 attempts. Sophomore libero Avery Enriques led all players with 14 digs, making the most of playing against his twin brother and CUI libero, Addison Enriques.

A sluggish start met the Lopes as they were forced into a timeout with the Eagles leading 8-1 to begin the match. Concordia-Irvine held a comfortable lead for most of the set thanks to a .438 hitting percentage. Even though the Lopes only committed three errors, it would not be enough and the Eagles took the first set.

The Lopes responded in the second set in a big way. The teams jumped out to a 10-10 tie after a Janke kill with neither side gaining a two-point lead. That streak would break after CUI committed an error and Kisiel landed a kill, forcing the home side into a timeout. GCU would increase its lead to five with the score at 18-13, but the Eagles would not go down quietly. CUI fought back to tie the match at 19 after a 5-0 run and it was the Lopes' turn to take a timeout. Back-and-forth play ensued but, after GCU used a late timeout, Kisiel put an end to the comeback effort, winning the set 25-23.

The third set had a similar feeling to the first after CUI secured the first four points. The Lopes came within three, trailing 11-8, but another 4-0 run would calm the Lopes attack. GCU only committed five errors but CUI stayed on top and ended the set, earning a 2-1 match lead.

GCU looked to send the match into overtime and Kisiel was the go-to man. The sophomore landed his 19th kill and brought the Lopes within one at 11-10. The Eagles secured nine of the next 13 points and GCU needed to respond. The Lopes climbed back before taking a timeout down 23-17. It would not be enough, however, as CUI earned the final two points and the match.

The Lopes return home for one match, taking on No. 5 Pepperdine on Friday, Feb. 15. The match will begin a run of nine straight top-15 opponents for GCU with first serve set for 6 p.m.